Gina Kim after winning the 2025 IAO Classic in Longwood, FL (Photo: Isaiah Bell/Epson Tour)
The bags are barely unpacked from Atlantic Beach, and the Epson Tour is already back at it. That’s life on the Road to the LPGA — a relentless grind where the calendar waits for no one and every tournament is a chance to either build momentum or lose ground in the Race for the Card.
This week, 120 players descend on Alaqua Country Club in Longwood, Florida, for the 2026 IOA Golf Classic. The event runs March 13-15, offering a $200,000 purse with $30,000 and 500 critical Race for the Card points going to whoever can handle 54 holes on one of the trickiest tracks on the Epson schedule.
The Course: Precision or Punishment
Alaqua Country Club is not a course that rewards aggression for its own sake. Gary Player designed it in 1988, carving it through the lush Wekiva River basin just north of Orlando, and he built in a clear message: keep it in play, or keep looking for your ball.
Water comes into play on 16 of the 18 holes, and the fairways are narrow throughout. Miss a fairway at Alaqua and you’re not just in rough — you’re likely in thick Wekiva River basin forest, and chances are you won’t be venturing in to find it. The course plays to a par of 71 from the white tees at 6,182 yards for this event, so length is never the issue. Control is everything.
The head professional at Alaqua has described the key to scoring here simply: you’ve got to formulate a solid strategy on every hole, because the greens are small and they reward good club selection and well-executed approach shots.
The signature hole is the par-3 4th. The tee boxes sit on a series of mounds with a towering tree to the right, water in front and to the left, leaving players with a tee shot to a small island green fronted by a long bunker designed to catch anything under-clubbed. It’s a hole that separates the confident from the cautious — and in a 54-hole tournament where a single bogey can cost you five spots, there’s no room for either hesitation or recklessness.
Add in the resident wildlife — alligators and deer are regular sightings on the property — and you have a course that keeps everyone on their toes, from the first tee to the final green.
The tournament scoring record tells you what’s possible when someone is locked in: Katelyn Sisk fired a 62 in the first round back in 2022, and Grace Kim finished at 18-under for the 54-hole mark that same year. Scoring is there for the taking — but only if the driver is working.
Names to Know
Isabella Fierro is the obvious name to start with. The Mexican star won the season opener, the Atlantic Beach Classic, and arrives in Longwood with something no one else in this field carries: momentum and confidence from a W. Tour victories have a way of simplifying the mental game, and Fierro will be one of the most closely watched players all week.
Laura Wearn and Jenny Coleman both know what it feels like to win at Alaqua. Wearn took the title in 2020; Coleman in 2023. No player has won this event twice — yet. Wearn comes in fresh off a T29 at Atlantic Beach, while Coleman is still chasing her first made cut of the 2026 season. Both have history here that matters, and history on a specific course is never nothing.
The Florida contingent will have the home crowd behind them. Gianna Clemente and Megan Schofill are both Florida residents competing on their home turf. College connections run deep here too — Maria Torres played her college golf at the University of Florida, just two hours down I-4, while Matilda Castren comes out of Florida State. Familiarity with Florida conditions — the heat, the humidity, the Bermuda grass — is a genuine edge in March, when players from colder climates are still finding their footing in the warm weather.
Then there are the Monday qualifiers. Lauren Peter and Yue Zhang didn’t have automatic entry into this field. They had to go out and shoot 2-under 69 in an 18-hole Local Qualifying Round against 22 other players just to earn the right to tee it up this week. That’s a different kind of pressure — and the players who survive it tend to arrive with something to prove. Don’t overlook either of them.
What’s at Stake
This is only the second event of the 2026 season. The Race for the Card standings are thin, the points are fresh, and 500 points to the winner means this week can swing things meaningfully — or set someone back if they miss the cut.
The top 10 finishers at the end of the Epson Tour season earn LPGA Tour cards. That’s the only prize that ultimately matters. Past IOA champions have understood that better than most: Hannah Green won here in 2017 and is now a major champion. Grace Kim won in 2022 and is a fixture on the LPGA. Gina Kim won in 2025, finished third in the Race for the Card, and is now competing on the big tour.
The IOA Golf Classic has a history of producing players who go on to do serious things. Whoever survives three days on Alaqua’s narrow fairways and small greens this week will earn more than $30,000. They’ll earn a statement.
Tee it up Friday. The Florida swing is just getting started.
